PINES WITH THREE LEAVES IN A SHEATH. 159 



especially abundant on the Blue Ridge in Virginia and north Carolina, 

 In America it is generally known as the Table Mountain Pine. 



Pinus resinosa. — A tall tree of the P. Laricio type, 60 to 80 

 feet high, with reddish smooth bark and dark green leaves 5 to 6 

 inches long, collected in bunches at the extremities of the branchlets. 

 It occurs in Canada and the adjoining States, where it is commonly 

 known by the name of the Red Pine. "The timber is very durable, 

 its abundant secretions acting like paint in preserving it from decay. 

 The old roots and knots of this Pine, which are of great weight 

 and completely saturated with resin, burn fiercely, give a brilliant light, 

 and are much used for torches."* 



Pinus sinensis. — The common Pine of south-eastern China. It is 

 spread over the country where it can be allowed to grow for the 

 supply of timber and fuel, from Canton to the Yang-tse-Kiang ; it 

 occurs plentifully on the mountains north of Poo-chow mixed with 

 Abies Fortunei. It grows from 40 to 60 feet high, with the aspect of 

 the Japanese P. densifimxi, but far inferior to that useful Pine. The 

 leaves are in twos, but occasionally in threes, very slender, from 

 4 to 6 inches long. The cones are those of a Pinaster Pine and are 

 among the smallest in the section. 



Section II. — Pines with Theee Leaves in a Sheath. 



Of the twenty-four or twenty-five Pines belonging to this section, 

 not more than ten or a dozen are available for planting in England, 

 and these for ornamental purposes only. A few species of remarkable 

 aspect have been introduced from the alpine regions of Mexico; but, 

 notwithstanding the high elevation at which they are found in their 

 native country, they have proved to be generally too tender for the 

 climate of England, and, except in Devon, Cornwall, and a few 

 other places, rarely attain the dimensions of large or even medium- 

 sized trees. Very noticeable features, both in these and in some of 

 the more hardy kinds, are the great length of the leaves and the 

 large size of the cones, composed of solid ligneous scales, in many 

 of the species terminating in a sharp point or prickle; but there are 

 some species with short leaves and small cones, as Pinus Bungema, 

 P. cembroides, and P. edulis. 



The Pines in this section are very unequally distributed over the 

 Northern Hemisphere; two-thirds of them are confined to North 

 * Jtowsm's Emigrant and Sportsman in Canada. 



